Terran Legacy
by naWolfle
Summary: Usually it goes 'A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...' Sadly not the case, the empire is now, and a distance measured in galaxies didn't keep us safe.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Star wars and Aldnoah Zero belong to their respective owners, not me.**

 **Disclaimer 2: I am no expert on Government, Culture, Religion, Military technology, Military structure, Science, or anything really. Suspension of disbelief might make this fic less painful to read.**

~5 years after the second Earth-Mars war~

An opened letter lies on the desk in the office of Inaho Kaizuka, general of the United forces of Earth. It reads:

 _This letter is addressed to General Inaho Kaizuka of the United Forces of Earth,_

 _The following is an official order of the utmost importance from the United Earth Council:_

 _Dismantle 75% of the existing air force, all fleet ships of sizes larger than the frigate size classification, and all kataphracts._

 _The production of these items and the ammunition to maintain them is to be halted._

 _The military location listed in the attachments are to be disbanded._

 _The manpower attached to the mentioned assets are to be let go._

 _The funding supporting these assets has been cut._

 _4 Years have been given to fulfill these tasks. Failure to do so will result in criminal charges and the loss of your position._

 _From,_

 _the United Earth Council_

Out through the window one can see a mob roaring and shouting with their signs raised in protest. Examples of the texts displayed included:

Warmonger

Terrorist

Dismantle the unnecessary war machine

Tyrant

Peace

It is sunny, a state of weather considered by a majority of earth to be 'nice', but the light does not illuminate the room, for in the main office chair that accompanies the office desk, sits Inaho Kaizuka himself. He is outfitted with an officers uniform, coloured to match his rank and adorned with a number of medals, and a notable eye patch. As his name would suggests, he is Japanese. This man had been a key player in the second Earth-Mars war.

At his ear, held by his hand, is a phone. The tone emitted by the device suggested that it is in the process of attempting to receive a response from a device of a similar nature. The tone ends, one of the members of the leading earth council picks up the contacted phone, and Inaho speaks.

"Why was I not contacted about this previously, I will admit that I do not agree with the orders, but I should have been addressed during the discussion." He says.

The voice on the other end speaks, "We've had the discussion before, and-"

Kaizuka interrupts "-and every time you've been convinced that I'm right and that we need a military force."

The voice gives a sigh "The council shifts every year Kaizuka, you know this. Many of the elected members this time rounds gained their voters by supporting the disolving of the military. Even if they hadn't, the council represents the will of the people, and the people think the military is a fault in our system, and honestly I can't say I disagree."

Inaho speaks again "The military protects the people, that is what we are for. But we can't do anything if we are gutted this way, we can't even pretend to be strong enough to protect the people."

The voice responds harshly "The Military protects the people, that is true, but it does so by fighting it's enemies, we have no enemies! Vers isn't going to attack again, there is a complete, stable, and profitable cooperation between us. Every day it gets easier for a citizen of Earth to travel to, live on, or work on Mars and vice versa. I didn't think I would have to spell it out to you, but the costs for a months supply of ammunition for a kataphract is enough to pay the wage for a doctor, teacher or policeman for the same length of time. Until now we've given that up, and what for?"

Inaho unaffected by the shifting tone, responds, "You're right, there are no enemies, but there never is an enemy until one of the sides attacks the other, and by then it is too late to prepare. We have no enemies now, but anyone could become the enemy, with enough money and ambition someone could raise an army amongst our own people. Even if that doesn't happen, space is infinite, the existence of a foreign force that we have yet to know of is highly probably, especially since we still don't know where the Aldnoah came from. If we find them, it would likely be fine, we would have the advantage in the diplomatic discussions, but should they find us, they could easily hold our entire civilization hostage, and they likely will, just look at our history, the majority of first contacts resulted in conquest."

The voice replies a final time "Maybe you're right, but even if I wanted to, even if all of us on the council wanted to, we can't stop this. I'm sorry."

The tone following that sentence gives notice that the owner of the voice had hung up the phone.

* * *

~8 years after the second Earth-Mars war~

Inaho stands by the main power switch to the largest underground base, located in Russia. The location was salvaged after its initial destruction during the war, but now the base is unmanned once again, and the power goes off, supposedly for good.

But, as the lights shut, the people and the council are blissfully oblivious to the base's new contents.

* * *

~10 years after the second Earth-Mars war~

An astronomical object crashes into earth, despite the asteroid belt that used to be the moon. The team sent to investigate finds nothing at the crash site.

Elsewhere, a black droid marked with a white cog explores the planet in secret and transmits all it discovers to it's masters.

* * *

~15 years after the second Earth-Mars war~

A large object in bearing a general triangular shape suddenly arrives just outside earth's asteroid belt, the object is a capital ship of the galactic empire, specifically a star destroyer. The commanding officer sends a messenger down to earth requesting a meeting with the planet's leaders, the message claims that the officer was sent as an envoy from the galactic empire. This message is delivered by a uniformed man carrying a device that served as the message itself by projecting a hologram of the officer and emitting the sounds spoken by him during the time of recording.

The message is taken to the council, and they vote to meet the officer.

* * *

~5 hours before the last war on earth~

In the generals office, General Kaizuka puts down the phone just before the door opens abruptly. In barges a man in a suit and a label marking him as a head councillor. Inaho does not appear surprised.

The man speaks, with the same voice that had denied the general 10 years prior, "Inaho, what's taking you so long, we we're supposed to be at the helipad 2 hours ago!"

Inaho maintains a blank expression. "Sorry Millson-san, I was just making some preparations." He holsters a pistol at his hip, puts on his beret and heads towards the door, "shall we get going Millson-san?"

They proceed to exit the room.

As they exit, a wind blows in through the windows. A globe positioned on the desk is knocked off and it crashes into the ground, cracking it's weak decorative skin, but through the cracks, though one can barely see it, there is the glint of steel.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Star wars and Aldnoah Zero belong to their respective owners, not me.**

 **Disclaimer 2: I am no expert on Government, Culture, Religion, Military technology, Military structure, Science, or anything really. Suspension of disbelief might make this fic less painful to read.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Thomas Millson, Councillor**

What did we know about the Empire before the meeting? They knew we were here, since they sent an envoy specifically to meet us. They had the technology and the resources to build massive space faring ships, likely military in nature, and they could produce plenty of them if they are willing to send one to our little corner of the milky way. They had hologram technology, and could produce a human like figure using it, whether the messenger themselves was human was still an unknown, we could not discern colour in the hologram or internal features, and even then, the holographic image might have been entirely generated by whatever technology they use. The messenger who delivered the recorded holographic message also had the shape of a human, but they wore plastic white plated armour, so again, we couldn't really discern more than shape from that.

Though we knew little, we knew enough to not be surprised when the opposing door of the conference room opened to reveal the uniformed human captain who served as the imperial ambassador, escorted by two of those white armored soldiers.

Deciding to represent our planet, I rose first and spoke "Greetings ambassador, it is my pleasure to welcome you to earth, I hope that we can both leave this meeting satisfied."

The captain stared with an iron grip on his facial expression, politely waiting for me to finish, after which he turned to a bipedal robot that had walked in after, which proceeded to translate my words over to their alien language. It was expected of course, alien languages and customs come hand in hand with alien civilizations, which is also why I didn't offer him a hand to shake.

He stood straight, his hands held behind his back. An intercultural military stance it seems. He took a moment to pass his glance over the six of us sent to meet him, parking his gaze on Inaho for a second longer than he needed, in particular, he eyed the weapon at his side.

Then he turned to the protocal droid and spoke in his foreign tongue. He then turned back to face us and made a motion to one of his escorts as the droid began to translate.

"Yes, it would be beneficial for the both of us to come to an agreement ambassadors of earth. We are fully aware of who you are, but we feel we need to properly introduce ourselves and our Galactic Empire."

By the time the droid had finished, one of the troopers had retrieved and placed a device on the table, a holo-projector.

The device flared to life and he explained the empire and it's intricacies, the senate, the importance of strength and order, the emperor, and the position we could hold within the empire.

After listening intently, I spoke up again "This has been very informative, but we feel we need a minute to discuss this properly first"

After the droid translated, the captain nodded and left the room along with his escorts and droid.

We were probably all thinking the same thing as the silence violently took over like the ashes of a sacking. We couldn't accept, we valued our independence and our democracy, even if the senate did exist it was clearly the military and the emperor that held the power.

So I voiced these thoughts, "Are we agreed that we can't accept this offer?"

The rest looked hesitant, Jahid spoke up "The foreign trade would greatly benefit our economy and expose us to a number of new new luxuries..."

The inquisitive Gustav spoke up as well "The advanced and different technologies would open up grand new avenues to explore..."

Then the stern Hao Tsung finished the line "...but it is not worth putting ourselves in the jaws of a tyrant."

Grim nods followed from the entirety of the council, and the captain returned with the droid.

We all rose and turned to face the captain.

"As lucrative as the offer is, we must decline." I said.

The captain sighed, and spoke to the droid, then put a hand to his ear, and gave orders, or I assumed they were.

The droid with it's lifeless eyes stared into us and said "That is unfortunate, but it seems you are mistaken: you are joining the empire, whether by choice..." the roar of engines resounded through the sky and the building "... or by force."

Inaho brought his radio to bear "Intercept those transports."

The droid translated for the enemy captain, and he gave another order of his own.

* * *

In an airfield barracks, a number of young men and women were calmly adorning their uniformed jumpsuits. When the speaker in the corner blared out.

"Pilots! Get ready for combat, this is not a drill!" A moment of pause "I repeat, Pilots! Get ready for combat, this is not a drill!"

Everyone suddenly hastened their pace. A young man slotted his arms in, pulled up the zip, grabbed his helmet and jogged out. He arrived to his jet, climbed up the ladder, equipped his helmet, and closed the cockpit as he flipped various switches controlled the beast of a machine, which though lifeless, hummed with a silent quake of fury.

A couple of mechanics pulled away the ladder and the young man directed the aircraft onto the runway, moving in along side his flight partner, a young woman of a similar age. Though she didn't know it, he'd been planning on proposing to her sometime in the following weeks.

The young man locked the mask onto his face, hit the throttle, so that the hum quickly rose in magnitude and evolved into an earth shattering roar, and soon the two crafts were in the air, followed and accompanied by dozens of others.

In the ears of the helmet, the man received his orders, he and his partner were to intercept the transport above Russia.

The man nodded, and radioed an acknowledgement in return.

They flew in a simple formation, the man ahead, and the woman behind on his right.

The three transports came into the young mans sights, but he questioned why the ground based anti air missiles hadn't managed to scratch them yet, they hadn't even attempted to fire yet. Nevertheless, he armed the missiles and prepared to fire... but the heat based system wouldn't pick up a lock on any of them.

He thought that maybe his system was broken and reported the problem to his partner, but she had the same problem.

So they switched to simple projectiles and opened fire, but they didn't manage to catch more than one before they were interrupted by a roaring engine from above. The sound would very soon be recognized as the roar of the twin ion engines that the imperial fighters employed. But that was later, at the time the man heard a cry and the sound of an eject system over his squad communications.

He gave a silent prayer, before the alarms indicated that his own craft was in danger, the display told him that it was the left wing that had been hit, it was going to be difficult to fly, and definitely didn't have much air time left. The mechanics surveying the wreckage would later realize that the implementation of energy absorbing features meant to deal with Vers technology was the only reason it had managed to stay airborne so long.

He gave priority to his attackers, over his target and did a loop to try to catch the offending craft, again he noticed that he couldn't get a lock on them either, and even if he could, the super heated plasma that functioned as their ammunition would throw it of anyway, so he again switched to the machine guns again.

The stream of bullets managed to catch one of the unsuspecting fighters, before the rest abruptly turned away in a cluster of different directions.

He had noticed four total, making it three enemies still in action, he was sure he couldn't take one those odds, so he focused on surviving while he reported in. New orders came quickly: retreat back to base.

So the man moved his craft to motion to attack the transports again, waited for the TIEs to shift formation, switched of the engine, let the jet spin and drop, and then, once the jet had spun enough to face the opposite direction, turned it back on with a full throttle.

The TIEs took a few seconds to realize the change in course, but as soon as they were able they continued the chase.

Halfway across the ocean the jets left wing, what remained of it, ignited due to the built up heat from the multiple laser like shots. When the base in in sight, the fire reached one of the armed missiles. The missile then proceeded to explode, and the man was forced to eject to avoid the crash.

* * *

 **Inaho Kaizuka, UFE General**

The enemy captain spoke again, this time he was addressing me. As usual the droid translated.

"You are foolish to believe you can stop us. You have no forces, as expected of a peace loving people such as yourself, that you would even come to this meeting is horrendously embarrassing, almost as embarrassing as your horrible tactics. It was obvious that we had forces to intercept, yet you still deployed your responding force and revealed your hand, which does nothing seeing as we had been scouting your pathetic defenses for the last five years." He raised his hands in a grand gesture, and the holo-display showed the imperial TIE fighters chasing and eliminating the retreating jet fighters. "Behold our might and tactical genius, and surrender before it."

The two escorts dashed in through the door, and I pulled my pistol out and shot them both before they could make it in.

On the screen, more of earths defenders fell, but then the airbases flak and machine gun based anti air defenses opened fire and started picking the fighters out of the sky.

From my ear piece I hear the words that I needed: "Deucalion operational, and standing by."

The captain reached for his own pistol, but before he could reach it, I slid over the table, kicked him behind the knee to knock him down and restrained him by the arm with the gun to his head.

"Call off the attack"

He tried to turn and face me and growled out a sentance "Even if you kill me, you can't stop this, we have your forces on the run, and we can easily call in more star destroyers, and inumerable legions of the emperors finest, you stand no chance."

I shot him in the ankle and brought the gun back to his skull, and repeated my demand,

"Call off the attack."

He bent over and bit down to stop his screaming, before bringing a hand to his ear and speaking.

I waited, and soldiers of both sides came in through the doors at each end of the room. My troops having taken cover behind the various chairs and the long table in the center, and his troops in contrast positioning themselves in a straight line, exactly 15 cm apart from each other. Both sides had their guns trained on their opponents.

I brought my pistol an inch closer, and the captain ordered his men to stand down.

* * *

Up on the bridge of the star destroyer 5S-T7, a communication played for all to hear. "This is captain Darwen Durnstar, return all forces." The officer who was substituting for the captain, listened, with a stern face. "I repeat, call of the attack."

One of the communications specialists looked up at the officer.

"Sir?"

The officer took a moment to savour the attention of the crew, before he shouted "Send in the next wave. We have our orders, and I for one intend to fulfill them!" The bridge got to work and soon enough he could see another ten squadrons of fighters and transports approaching the planet.

Satisfied, the officer walked down to the communications specialist who had received the message, and he told him "Inform the former captain Durnstar, that it is clear that he is compromised, and that as such, he has been relieved from duty." This was protocol, this was standard, and this was expected. Good soldiers follow orders, orders come from commanders, not prisoners.

"Yes sir"

He moved to what was now his post on the bridge as captain, and got ready for the scent of victory, which was surely in his grasp, those anti air defenses would not be able to hold off this next wave.

"Sir, we've detected another ship in the planets atmosphere, from the region that they call Russia."

Amateurs the officer thought, "You don't need to tell me every time they launch a fighter."

"That's the thing sir, it's not a fighter, the signature would suggest that it is at least a capital ship."

"Impossible! They don't have that kind of military technology, the sensors must be broken."

"They're fully functional sir, we've ran maintenance on them just before the operation under Durnstars orders."

"Then run them again!" the officer shouted. " For now bring up live feed of the main battle." Even if they had such ships nothing could stand up against a star destroyer, he realized quietly to himself, managing to reign in his own temper.

"Yes sir."

A holographic screen appeared in front of him showing the view from one of the TIE fighters, the base would soon be destroyed, along with all the pathetic primitive enemy fighters defending it.

"Sir, diagnosis complete, all scanners are fully functioning."

The officer realized that this meant that the mystery ship was real, the enemy must have simply kept it hidden. The officer thereafter proceeded to with what he considered to be the most obvious route and ordered the ships crew to prepare for combat. Though it would be impossible for the primitive ship to defeat the star destroyer, any damages would be an unnecessary expense later on, and that was not something he needed on his record.

"Sir, the ships not leaving lower atmosphere..."

He looked over to the radar specialist with mild curiosity. 'What are they planning if not to try to take us on.'

"Actually..." the radar specialist said, leaning closer to the screen, before suddenly turning as if the sight had burned him "Sir, it's heading towards the main battle!"

Impossible, the officer thought, in the empire it is known that ships of that size just couldn't function properly that close to any planet surface: the gravitational pull and large size made it impossible to maneuver properly, making combat nigh impossible and opening up the ship to a large number of likely collisions. For the empire this was usually not a problem, the majority of their ships are outfitted with long ranged weaponry. Of course their ships were also outfitted with short range weapons, only for the need of dealing with... fighter craft.

As is if by design, the officer was also infected by the panic that plagued the communications specialist, and he roared "Fall back, retreat our forces!"

The empire wasn't afraid to lose troops and armour, but wasting them was a crime of the highest order, the fact that his younger brother was among the exposed fighters did not hinder his decision in the least.

"We can't sir, all channels are occupied, we are still relaying attack orders!"

"Can we provide orbital bombardment?" He demanded

"No sir, the asteroid belt is in the way, we can't get any shots through it!"

"Sir, the ship has made contact with our fighters!"

The deck silenced, and the markers on the map indicating their own fighters started to disappear in a much more rapid manner. From the communication desks, the sound of explosions and the cries of their pilots echoed across the walls.

The officer felt the weight of his mistake bring his head down, but he couldn't see the battle below him, just the repeating iron tiling.

'I was fooled' he thought, dying his nail red with blood.

'I was foolish' he thought, as he brought his hand across his vision, he imagined that the red wasn't his own blood, but the blood of his pilots, for they were his. He had taken the initiative and deemed that his former commander was compromised, so it was his duty to take over, and those men and women were, from that moment, his responsibility.

'Never again' he thought, bringing his head up in time to see an earthling bring his weapon up to shoot out the camera feeding the live footage, positioned in the pilots helmets, quickly resulting in the feeds abrupt end.


	3. Chapter 2

**Diclaimer: I hold no ownership over any star wars related content, nor do I have any ownership of the Aldnoah Zero series, it's characters or much of anything.**

 **AU: I thought I'd uploaded this ages ago... oops**

 **Inaho Kaizuka, UFE General**

I looked back at the enemy captain after witnessing the ducaleon at work on the holodisplay. He'd given an order, whether the order was attack or retreat I couldn't tell. I looked up at the droid, and I asked it that very question.

"The former captain gave the order retreat, as requested." It said.

"Former captain?" I asked, "Elaborate."

"The command crew determined that he had been captured and relieved him of his position." it said.

I'd suspected that the empire would be an organisation that used assets only until it troubled them to do so. Wasn't the most sustainable method, but it was effective, and if the empire was as large as we'd been told, they could afford it.

I gestured for our escort to sieze the surrendered enemy forces, then gave my attention to the droid. Prisoner rights was about to get a lot more complicated. "What am I suposed to call you?"

"I am a protocal doid, with designation C-743" it said.

"Are you sentient?" I asked.

"I am capable of complex thought, learning, and memorising large quantities of data." It said.

"Do you feel?" I asked.

"I am installed with optical, auditorial, and contact sensors," It said "but I do not feel emotion."

I nodded in understanding, it wasn't a military matter, so I would let the council deal with it later on. Then I adressessed the captain again. "How do you treat your dead?"

C-743 translated, and the captain looked irritated, if not a bit confused. He spoke, and then the droid worked to translate.

"'Why do you care?' he asks" said the droid.

I gestured to the two storm troopers I had shot earlier, and said "It would be inapropriate for me to just leave them there."

The droid didn't need to translate before the former captain spoke.

"We usually burn them planetside." He said.

I nodded, took the captains gun, and released him. We both knew that he was in no position to attempt amything.

I leaned down to the corpse of the first trooper I shot and inspected the wound. The shot had gone through easily, and the plating around the bullethole had developed a web of cracks. It was highly likely that the dominant use of energy based weapons meant that they never needed to develop defenses against penetrating or blunt mass based projectiles. I would have needed to read through the reports of the initial skirmish to confirm, but I was quite sure. In short, we were lucky.

Another UFE infantry came and took the body, leaving only myself the capatain and the droid. There was a question of how lucky we were, did they or did they not know about Vers?

I looked at the man and asked "Does the term 'Vers' mean anything to you?"

C-743 translated, and the captain shook his head. To which I was thankful. Vers still had a very strong offensive force, which Empress Asseylum had maintained under my insistance, but they had not defenses, and were very vulnerable to orbital strikes.

"Sir, we should leave." one of the troops said.

I reached down, put the enemy captains arm around my shoulders and helped him reach the helicopter, which was recieved with a grunt of annoyance on his part.

* * *

 **Holt Hurn, Imperial Captain**

I had a number of items open on my datapad, compiled reports from the officers commanding the landing forces, compiled reports from the surviving TIE fighter pilots, troop roster, current and predicted supply status.

If I was going to be in command I needed to be updated on our current situation, that much was obvious. I'd also taken it upon myself to use the reports to update the missing in action and killed in action lists. I don't know when it happened, but at some point I'd started simply reading through the files of every soldier and pilot under my command.

The door to the office hissed open, and I took a second to glance up and see an lieutenant enter, salute, and then stand by, true to form, true to procedure, but it was a harsh motion, stiff even. I laid the datapad down to rest and gave the lieutenant my attention.

"What is it?" I asked, because you don't speak before your superiors in the imperial army.

"All landing operations are complete" He said in monotone "TK-787 is ready to meet you and discuss strategy for the occupation..." He waited a couple of seconds "...sir"

I nodded and he turned to leave.

"Did I dismiss you lieutenant" I demanded, my voice cooled like the surface of Hoth. He slowly turned back and brought his hands behind his back. His facade was that of the diligent soldier, but the heat of his gaze gave away his true feelings.

Like a rising tide, I rose from my seating. I met the furnace that was his gaze and matched it with the steel of professionalism. I took a glance at his command cylinders, reached down for my datapad and brought up his file.

"Lucas Lorn..." I read "...Naval Lieutenant aboard Star Destroyer 5S-T7, six years of service, graduated from an officer academy on Coruscant with above average scores, from a reasonably well respected family, and showing no signs of ambition."

I game him a moment to respond, but he said nothing, and I put the datapad back down onto the desk.

I let the resulting silence ring for a few moments further before silently saying "I am fully aware that my first order led to the deaths of numerous loyal imperial pilots..." I paused to let it sink in for the both of us, then continued louder "...I am fully aware that my command led to the failure of the initial assault..." I took a step closer to him "...but I did not desire the position, as hard as it may be to believe, like you I only seek to do my duty to the empire, and my duty told me to relieve Durnstar of his command, and if you think you can do better..." I reached into the holster for my pistol and shoved the weapon into his chest "...then do your duty to the empire."

He glanced down at the pistol, grabbed it and handed it back.

"Sir" he said.

I took the weapon, and stepped out the door. Outisde I stopped and turned my head to acknowledge the lieutenant.

"Come, we have a war to plan."

* * *

 **Inaho Kaizuka, UFE General**

The imperial captain didn't speak a word throughout the trip, or at the base. The captured stormtroopers acted similarly, and under questioning they would only say "We are loyal to the empire."

So now I stood in a room with the upper echelons of the government and the military. This was a meeting of great importance, here we would likely decide on Earth s fate.

"As you are all aware, we have been attacked by a foreign force that calls itself 'the empire'. From the reports, we have gathered that the transport ships have made it through and landed at these locations." I indicated up at the display, and red dots flashed across the surface. "Satellite surveillance has told us that the enemy ground forces have started coming together and building what we assume to be bases in Canada, Sweden, Russia, Mexico, Italy, Iran, Thailand, Chile, Zimbabwe, and Australia. We will continue to maintain orbital surveillance for as long as we can" As I listed the locations, the red markers merged to indicate the ten bases mentioned.

"As long as they can?" someone asked.

"We do not currently have any way to defend them from the enemy ships, so it highly probable that they will eliminate any orbital assets we have soon." I answered, "Additionally, it would not be unreasonable to assume that the enemy is capable of orbital bombardments and that they may bombard any assets they discover to be unsheltered by the asteroid belt."

"It pains me to ask, but would that include civilian installations?" Councillor Millson asked

I nodded in response and answered "Yes"

That led to a degree of murmuring from the majority, but I paid no heed to it and continued the briefing "We currently have a small infantry force, a small air force, the flying battleship Deucalion, and enough ammunition to keep them supplied for three major battles"

"Like with the Deucalion, I've hidden kataphracts and military supplies in a number of underground bases around the globe." green markers scattered across the map, and the civilian official were in an uproar. I nodded to one of the guards, and they escorted the majority of them out of the room, bar the head councillors, who had resorted to simply giving a hard glare. "I understand that what I've done is highly illegal, but my court marshal can wait, and the lives these resources could protect can't."

Millson sighed "I guess we'll have to overlook it for now, but this isn't the end of this."

I nodded and continued "Even if we capture the bases, we'll need manpower to man the defences and the armour, but as you know, a large proportion of the civilian population underwent mandatory military training in preparation for the second war with Vers, and the rest are either too young or old to be appropriate anyway, but even so what I would suggest is that we capture the underground bases first and then use them as rally points for the evacuation, like we did when Vers attacked. Following that, we begin eliminating the enemy encampments, and then after we've secured earth, we take the battle into orbit."

Nods of acknowledgement all around.

"What about Vers, can they help us?" asked councillor Millson.

I shook my head "As it stands, the empire is unaware of the colony on Mars, as soon as they assist us the empire they will become targets as well, and to make matters worse, they stand in the opposite situation to us when in comes to military technology, they are armoured against mass based projectiles and make use of energy based weapons." I said "If we inform them of the enemy we face, they can prepare themselves better, but that will take time. Additionally, with them unknown there is the potential for a surprise attack, which we will need to defeat the enemy if they send reinforcements, but that will only work once." I walked up to the table "Make no mistake, we cannot defeat the entirety of the empire, our only chance of success against to make the cost of victory too dire."

* * *

 **Holt Hurn, Imperial Captain**

"I've informed admiral Karn of our situation, he will be arriving with four star destroyers in a years time, until then, we are to disrupt the enemy as much as we can, in order to secure a victory when he arrives." I informed "Though our initial attack did not conquer the planet, it will have at least unbalanced them, so all we need to do is make sure we don't allow them to recover."

"Commander TK-787, your orders are simple, capture and hold. I want you to occupy any settlements within a reinforcement range of our landing sites, but keep the majority of your forces at the established landing sites. I want your forces to be ready to intercept and engage the Terran forces when they act." I ordered, and turned to address Lucas Lorn "Lieutenant, I'm giving you command of the bomber forces. I want you to coordinate with the ground forces to make sure we minimize our loses, but at all other times you will harass the enemy, lightning strikes we can't afford to lose any more TIEs."

As I was about to dismiss them, a low hiss gave away the arrival of a new member of the meeting.

"Sir, the enemies are deploying forces."

I nodded in acknowledgement, gave a final look to the two officers, and headed towards the bridge.

* * *

On the surface of the planet, a number cars drove along a road, their speeds matching, their positions, like an echo of the next. Inside these cars, humans, armed heavily and armoured lightly. One soldier checks the ammunition on his rifle, another grips more tightly on as necklace holding the symbol of his belief. No discussion, no language, no one dares.

The ant trail leads through an open field, surrounded by farmland, and though they they don't see it. Amongst the grain lie the white skinned skeletons which form the stormtroopers of the Empire, a number of which raising the shoulder mounted black pipes, pointed towards the ant-like humvees.

A single crow lands on a telephone pole an caws, and on some unknown signal, small light blue orbs of plasma lunge at the caravans, engulfing just as many cars in a fiery embrace.

The remaining cars stop in their tracks, and the soldiers are barely out before a roaring screech from above heralds the arrival of the tie bombers that quickly dispose of the rest before disapearing above the clouds.

On of the soldiers gets up onto one knee and brings up his rifle to aim at the nearest stormtrooper, but as his sights lines up, it is melted by a bolt of plasma, along with the eye that looked, and the head attached.

* * *

Elsewhere, General Kaizuka stares at the display indicating the positions of the caravan, the open communications filling the room with terror and panic, and slowly dying down. There are a number of things that unnerve the common soldier about Inaho, too many to list. In the darkness and solidarity that he uses as his command room, Inaho listens, looks and plans. He watches silently as the single dotted green line on the screen flickers out of existence with the transmitters announcing those locations. Elsewhere on the very same map, similar green dots travel with the same heading, completely scattered and in almost complete chaos.

"Sir, mission accomplished" is the last thing he hears from the channel connecting him to the decoy group. He nods to himself, and the panic is replaced with a light static.

* * *

Back at the Caravan, stormtroopers carefully survey the results of their ambush. One stands above the hill, away from the burning, and he is the only one to hear an eerie silence. Though the Stormtroopers are used to operating on planets without life, ever since their arrival on earth there had been constant sounds of quite the opposite, always a bird, or a bug, except now.

Suspicious, he brings one hand up to his helmet to inform his commander and then brings up a pair of macro binoculars. He scans the surroundings and notices specks of high heat in almost every direction, the kind of heat only common in more primitive technologies.

He quickly updates his commander, and the order is given.

The Stormtroopers set themselves up in a defensive position, preparing for the counter attack that never came.

* * *

A couple of days later, in a cellar room. A man holds a flashlight in his mouth as he fiddles with a number of panels, constantly cursing to himself about some 'ancient' wiring. A muffle of triumph escapes his lips and he pushes in a final wire.

Throughout the complex the lights power on, revealing the hulking armours, each light working highlighting them in a manner some would call angelic, though some would say that it would be more appropriate to call these armours demons, for they will be the thing to stand against the force that had arrived from the heavens.


	4. Chapter 3

**Diclaimer: I hold no ownership over any star wars related content, nor do I have any ownership of the Aldnoah Zero series, it's characters or much of anything.**

 **Holt Hurn, Imperial Captain**

I'm sitting at my desk in my office, looking over the various reports, and forming my own. The main Terran force was a decoy. Currently no sign as to where the rest of the forces were heading, and probe droids revealed that the atmosphere flight craft and the small capital ship were deployed, preventing any chance at a efficient counter attack.

A number of factors here just didn't make sense. The decoy, meant that first they had been able to assume our course of action. Had it been a standard precaution? Did Durnstar break, and happen to know me well enough to assume what I would do in command? Or had it been deduced by a competent commander after a strategic analysis?

There was a second matter related to that point. They had successfully created a decoy. It hadn't been a case of deploying a majority force as the decoy and accepting the loss, post analysis from field teams indicate that the decoy had been a minority, possibly under 20% of the total force, although much more thorough analysis would be needed to confirm. To accomplish this, they would have needed to be aware of our detection capabilities: in orbit and on ground. It is understandable that they could presume that our ground forces had limited abilities, and to be able to ascertain what those were, they are a grounded civilization, but for the very same reason, it is unheard of for such a force to be able to predict the sensor limits of a Star Destroyer. We have destroyed a number of orbiting machines sent there by the planet dwellers, and their specifications are laughably below our own.

There is also a matter of the defensive force. They seem fully aware that the asteroid field is preventing any orbital assistance, and in the surety of their own aerial supremacy, which is one which is at the moment confirmed. We are aware of the destructive power of their air to ground weapons, discounting those armed on the mystery cruiser, all the forces we have available would be decimated, which wouldn't be a problem if we had access to our own fighter wings. For a supposedly peace loving civilization they are awfully aware of how to wage war with minimal use of manpower, a doctrine that seems almost entirely in the reverse of our own. My thoughts on that matter will come later in this report.

The most confusing matter is that the deployed force has taken no known action. They have not assaulted any of our locations, or interacted with their own. Not only that, but there was a great deal of effort put into hiding where they were heading, including, but not limited to, the fabrication of false trails, removal of existing trails, and the abandonment of transport. At this point the most rational would be that the forces fled after witnessing our domination, or due to the sacrificial orders from the commander, but that does not line up with the behaviour of the ambushed force.

Various stormtroopers had reported that the targets had taken tactical positions after disembarking their vehicles, and even attempting to return fire. Had the previous hypothesis been correct, then it is likely that the response to our attack would have likely been panic, fleeing, and disregard for orders, but that is not the case.

Contrary to the reports and analysis formed during our five year observation, we are facing a disciplined, organised, and competent force.

I don't add any more information to the report, but I am left to wonder on the final note. Why is it that a peace loving civilization has such a strong grasp on military theory and capable forces. It is one thing to create plans and train troops, a whole other to form plans and armies that function. We saw it in the empire's early days, despite being formed right after a civil war, and from a number of factions that had previous warring experience, our 'book' so to speak had to be rewritten a number of times due to it's failure in application, which has resulted in what we have today.

There is also a matter of oddities within their military technology. We haven't had that much time, but we've been able to have so surface investigations. They are almost entirely based on slug throwers, yet their armour resists energy.

Did they have an encounter with another empire? It is possible, but they wouldn't be disarmed as quickly as they were if they had simply reached an agreement. They must have somehow completely eliminated the threat to feel that secure. Which would possibly suggest a force like our own, but one not in contact with it's origin, possibly a former CIS command ship? At this point it is uncertain.

Perhaps they were subjugated. It would give reason to the capital ship, a foreign delegation to keep them in line. It would also explain a mass disarmament, and a planet with such a bizarre ecosystem does certainly hold possibilities for use. Although admittedly, the empires own interest is more scientific, considering that there are no other multiple ecosystems in known space, at least not to this degree. The issue with this idea is their diplomatic response, are they a cunning people wishing to see which overlord would be better for them, or perhaps they would wish to acquire their own freedom by matching two equally powered empires against each other. If that is the case, then we are making a grave mistake.

An alternative would be that the planet was previously divided, with different technological levels each, but then they would not be as unified as they are today, especially without a active force keeping opinion in check. We have one, yet republic and separatists idealist still run rampant.

Many other possibilities, too many. I look back at the report. This question has been our main hindrance to now, and having it answered may prevent further surprises.

I add another line to the report: "Deploying Imperial Agents to investigate further."

* * *

Down on the surface, a force of imperial stormtroppers, accompanied by two AT-STs approach a large civilian center in the region that the locals called russia. The region was cold, but not anything colder than standard issue armour was designed to handle, although there was a supply of snowtrooper armour back at the outpost they had arrived from.

One storm trooper in particular is regretting the sudden shift away from his Tatooine deployment. At the the civilian centre, they are greeted with silence. There are signs of recent habitation, such as high maintenance level. The troopers commander suspects that the civilian population are in hiding, and orders him along with some others to scatter and scout out a number of structures.

The trooper approaches a nearby structure, along with an assigned partner. The structure is tall, most of the structures in the city are, some would later comment that they resembled miniaturized Coruscants.

The door is locked, they each take position by the door frame, and while the partner shoots out the lock, the trooper has his optics focused on the to be revealed interior. The door opens, and the interior is shown to be empty, the lights are still on, some of the holo terminals as well.

Further investigation shows that the floor is abandoned. The trooper reports this and receives orders to investigate further.

The trooper is comfortable with this, despite it's tedious nature, the interior is of a more comfortable temperature.

Most of the floors appear abandoned. Yet they continue. Eventually, the trooper hears over commlink that the partner has detected energy usage in one of the rooms coming up. The trooper acknowledges and meets up with the partner to storm it.

The reach the door, secondary scans reveal that there is a life form on the other side. They take positions on each side of the doors frame, the partner blows the lock, and the trooper locks his sight on the human inside, the blaster is set to stun, and the human doesn't even get the opportunity to notice them before he is out cold.

The partner follows through and does a preliminary optical scan of the room, no other hostiles. Meanwhile, the trooper inspects the single hostile. Male, armed with a slug thrower pistol and some sort of square device. A check in with command reveals that the device is a primitive commlink of sorts. The trooper takes a second look at the position, the human had been by a window, a sort of observation post.

The trooper takes a look to see what sort of intel the hostile may have conveyed. He sees the rest of the his deployed force. He signals the partner, who has scanner goggles on hand to take a look. The partner arrives, takes a look, and is immediately on comms with the commander, but it is too late, the foundation of the buildings on each side of the force are destroyed with explosives, and proceeds to collapse on the bulk of the force.

They receive orders from a higher level of command, they are to abort the mission and return to base. The trooper picks up the hostile, and follows the partner who takes point and guides the pair out to the entrance of the building.

Before they make it out, they hear footsteps, and commands being given in a local language, it comes from around a corner nearby, likely leads to a back door. The partner grabs a grenade in one hand, places a hand on the troopers shoulder. A moment passes and the trooper understands fully.

The partner takes position to fire on the approaching soldiers, while the trooper heads out the main entrance.

From behind him he hears blaster fire, pained shouts, and slug throwers in response. There is a crack that echoes quite in comparison to the rest of the cacophony of sound, but the trooper recognizes it as the sound of breaking stormtrooper armour.

The trooper can't see it, but a number of hostiles approach to subdue the injured partner, the partner reaches for the spheres on his belt.

The trooper receives a final communication from this line.

"For the empire."

* * *

"We're having trouble with the civilian populations then?" I asked the commander.

"Yes sir" came the prompt response "But I am sure that we can subdue them with some more pressure,"

"A bomber strike would remove the problem entirely." Lucas Lorn responded.

"Yes, it is true, we are the empire after all, it would not be difficult to defeat this enemy." I say, "but if we wanted to destroy the planet we would simply bombard it until it is no longer habitable."

They didn't speak up in response, I hadn't given them the freedom to speak back yet. Imperial discipline at its finest.

"There are couple of obvious resources of note down on that planet." I held up a finger "Firstly the population, it may not compare to the population on any core world planet, but it is not a meagre number either, and further more it is a human population, worth a lot more than any alien species."

"This you should already know" I held up a second finger "Secondly, the planet itself. It has a number of self sustaining ecosystems. In addition to the scientific properties, it's position within this unknown region means that should it be captured, it could be used as a base for further habitation of this region. We could settle and supply hundreds of systems with a location like this."

"We can't simply destroy our enemies. We must defeat them, and the defensive nature of their resistance may in fact play to our advantage." I laid a datapad down on the desk "I've deployed Agent Nuln to learn more about our opponent, the civilian centres will give him opportunities to infiltrate and learn more. TK-787, don't make any further attempts to take the cities."

"In fact, we need to change our strategy entirely" I put away the datapad "I want you to pull all our troops from the land masses they call the Americas, but do so subtly, leave the bases armed with automated defences and surveillance. So far they've surprised us in every engagement, I am expecting they will do so again, and if we can force them to show cards from the hand without taking loses, we can play around them."

Lucas Lorn was giving me a odd look, but I would address that later.

"We need to prepare for a long campaign so that we may last until, and contribute to, admiral Karn's arrival." I looked down at my terminal to remind myself of the orders I was going to give so that I didn't miss anything "To accomplish this I am giving you a number of objectives. Firstly, make sure one of our bases is impenetrable, if all else is lost, a landing site will provide a massive advantage for the arrival of our reinforcements. Secondly, provide any security or humanitarian aid to the civilian population you can, if we can't win the battle we can win the population. Thirdly, seize any weapons or means of production, we need to deny them to our enemies, and if we run out, primitive weaponry is better than no weaponry." I put my hands together "Finally, like any planet, they have prisons, I want you to break them out and if you can, have them join our ranks, service as a sentence. It will help our cause if there are locals supporting us."

I give him a nod, dismissing him in the process, and leaving me with Lucas Lorn.

I rise and start heading to the bridge to oversee the finishing of the Terran satalite program.

I pause by Lucas, and address him "You wish to know why I invested so much effort into explaining myself." I didn't wait for him to respond "It will grant him a degree of autonomy, and will improve his performance, especially when dealing with surprises. Nothing more, nothing less"

* * *

Somewhere in the continent of North America. A camera overlooks the interior of an abandoned imperial base.

A sound is picked up, blaster fire. A weapon with the calibre of a cannon responds. The blaster fire stops.

There is silence.

The room shakes, and a crash signals the destruction of the main entrance. A number of terran foot troops file in. Following that, there is a stomp, and then another. A metalic leg the size of a human comes into view, accompanied by a stomp. Soon after the other leg arrives in view, along with the body accompanying it.

What appears on screen is a walker the likes of which the empire had never seen. This is no mere weapon platform that maintains mobility in harsh terrain. This hulking green monster, is a kataphract.

* * *

 **Karn, Imperial Admiral**

When one receives summons from a Grand Moff, one does not delay. So here I am approaching the one of the offices of the imperial centre. I open the door.

"Ah, yes. Admiral Karn." the one inhabiting the room greets.

He isn't particularly tall, yet through trained experience, or just shear confidence, manages pulls of a threatening posture. The light grey shade of his hair hint at his age. The pronounced cheekbones give the image of a man with a skull for a head. This, is Grand Moff Tarkin.

"You summoned me, sir." I say, voice and posture controlled.

"Yes, indeed" He says.

His fingers wrap together, and he leans his elbows on the table, leaning in closer. This is slow, yet with purpose.

"I've been reading some interesting reports." He states, any observers would think the statement casual. "Your current action would make it seem that you haven't."

My blood boils, and my voice rises in my throat to speak.

"...That or you are simply incapable of handling your position." He continues. Making me thankful that I was not swift with my complaints. "This Earth, is resisting the empire. Are you even capable of imagining what the result would be if it was learnt that the empire was incapable of suppressing a primitive backwater planet?"

It would mean nothing, I think, because determination and hope are no match to imperial firepower.

"It would be terrible, sir" I say.

"Fortunately for you, I have removed the report from the archives and isolated its revelations to loyal subjects of the empire..." He says "...and everyone else who is aware is within your own fleet, which will be deploying immediately."

"Yes sir" I salute and leave.

When one receives orders from a Grand Moff, one does not delay.


End file.
